Fall family gatherings involve arrangements of salami, cheeses, nuts and fruit. Large wooden antique cutting boards display these well.
A firepit outside gives a curious kid his first-time experience throwing sticks and leaves in the flames.
…. C
junebugs movie tip
junebugs would like to highly, highly recommend two movies we recently saw:
The Lives of Others
Water
Both are from very different cultures and times but they speak to the human soul in beautiful ways (really!). If you’ve seen these films we’d love to hear what you think.
…. C & A
birthday tagine
Birthday dinners are great. Food, wine and atmosphere become magical during birthday dinners.
We went to Tagine on a quiet Tuesday evening. J and I were the only two people there. In addition to table seating, in the corner of the restaurant were pillows on the floor circling a low dark wood table. “Sit anywhere” the woman said. Of course, the decorated pillows were our choice.
The menu offers a lot more than tagine dishes, but we couldn’t resist trying their namesake. They were served in the traditional tagine dishes.
J ordered the Oasis Tagine, “half chicken roasted and cooked in ginger saffron sauce, garnished with lemon confit & olives and served with French fries. ” The fries reminded me of Spain, where every dish, even at the fancy restaurants, are served with salty delicious fries (they are useful to soak up the juices). My tagine was called Sultan’s. It comprised of a huge lamb bone, with the lamb meat just barely hanging on. It was served with onions & Moroccan spices, fresh green peas & artichokes. Everything was amazing.
It was all topped off with a bottle of Rioja Reserva 2002 Marques de Riscal. Thanks for a lovely birthday.
…C
Horses in the City
The WSJ recently featured a fascinating story about inner-city horse stables and horsemen in Philly. Horses are, ”kept in yards and odd corners of the city.” Some of the horsemen, “have learned to do their own veterinary work and re-shoeing.” The horses have served as a tool to serve the local community, “..several dozen horsemen and children planned to march their animals during a neighborhood cookout, to demonstrate opposition to violence, with an antigun message printed on their T-shirts.” A non-profit group, The Strawberry Mansion Equestrian Center, teaches children to ride and compete in horse shows.
You can view the whole artice Here.
Or, even cooler, check out the video: Here
“While most horsemen on Fletcher Street like to simply ride in the park, Mr. Lynch, who grew up in a house directly behind the stable, tries to get kids interested in competing professionally. Mr. Lynch instructs students in riding courses around barrels, chairs, and poles. Here, he keeps score as his students get ready for the next event.”
….C
Music for Rajma Masala
A hint of fall weather has come to Chicago. We had just returned from an evening run, and we were hungry.
J and I scrounged around his cupboard and found a box of ready-to-eat Indian food. The yellow box of Rajma Masala stated that these, “authentic Indian Gourmet Dishes have been created by the Master Chefs of India’s most prestigious hotels, ITC, building up on rare, traditional recipes. Kitchens of India brings them to your table in convenient, ‘keep-fresh’ packs. These dishes are ready-to-eat and microwavable.”
It was almost perfect. When I looked closer, I saw the yellow box advertised that a CD was enclosed of classical Indian music. What a great promotion! We turned on the rice cooker, and popped in the CD.
It was perfect. Indian music to accompany our late night impromptu Indian dinner. J’s roommate T came home in the middle of this magical moment. He was also swept up by the atmosphere, and sat down to join us. Rajma Masala is easy to share.
….C
vacation day: algerian crepes and coffee
I took a vacation day. Needless to say, I worred about how things were going at the office. But I did manage to have a lovely lunch at a restaurant in the Andersonville neighborhood. It’s historically a Swedish neighborhood, and it still contains Swedish bakeries, delis and restaurants. But J. and I went for the odd-ball of that ‘hood, and chose an Algerian crepe restaurant called Icosium Kafe. We started with coffee. Turkish style, but with spices that I’ve never had in coffee before. You could taste the cardamom.
I had the sweet Crepe Bunea. Mango & ginger chutney, sunflower seeds and raisins. A side of ice cream. Just what you need on a vacation day.
….C
babysitting baking
J. and I babysat our friend’s kids Friday through Saturday night. Their lovely house was full those 2 days with their 5 children, 1 dog and 1 cat. Saturday afternoon rolled around and the baby was taking a nap, so the older girls and I took a walk to the store. We had a list in hand as we made our way through the grocery aisles. 1 tall girl, 2 little ones. The excitement was around the apple crisp we were making. These selfless ones wanted to bake a gift for their parent’s anniversary. “Mommy and Daddy love apples!”
Apple Crisp
4 tart apples, sliced and peeled
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter
3/4 t ground nutmeg
3/4 t ground cinnamon
- Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
- Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, cut butter with remaining ingredients until well mixed. Sprinkle over apples.
- Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream (yum).
The girls picked the apple crisp from an old church recipe book. One peeled the apples, the other helped me slice apples. Their little brother joined us for the spoon licking portion.
chicago summer night
I have no photographic evidence to prove it this time, but chicago summer nights are the best. they are the reason one lives here the rest of the year. last night J. and I met up with some old friends of his who were in town. We walked to a little taquería in our neighborhood. The front is unassuming, but they have a lovely little patio out back. Colored lights are strung low above white plastic tables. The tacos here are some of the best: el pastor, chicken, carne asada, carnitas or fish… served on little corn tortillas with onions and cliantro.
“very chicago”
….C
Paris Part One- Promenade Plantée & Le Viaduc des Arts
Perhaps not a typical first post about a trip to Paris… but one of my favorite places on my recent trip was to the Promenade Plantee and Le Viaduc des Arts. The Viaduc des Art is the name of the arts & crafts stores located in the arches of the brick arcade– the Promenade Plantee is the lush garden path on top. The structure is 19th-century railway viaduct that creased operation in 1969. When you are walking on the Promenade through flowers and trees you are about 3 stories up and the view of the roof tops is beautiful. People eat their “take-away” sandwiches for lunch up top and old men stroll in their straw hats…
Some links with information:
http://www.promenade-plantee.org/
http://www.viaduc-des-arts.com/GB/index.html
-a
